“Every special inquiry is a process of progressive and cumulative re-organization of antecedent conditions” John Dewey

Performed for the first time in October 1986 in Venice California as a part of a food/art series of activities, “Apples and Oranges” illustrates in a playful way Allan Kaprow’s notion on “artlike life”, as he speaks from 1979 upon a “ new art/ life genre […] reflecting equally artificial aspects of everyday life and the lifelike qualities of created art” [1] .

Taking part lively in this process means constantly inquiring on the association of these qualities, like when seeking knowledge and self-consciousness in the ordinary or introducing raw elements of nature for the production of cultural activities. “Apples and Oranges” enabled its participants not only to question their determination as well as their definition of an artistic action but, most importantly, to expand its value from an artistic action to a social interaction. Two people following after a lapse of time the same path are prone to encounter and provoke a variety of verbal or gestural responses from those they meet on their way while dropping bread crumps or torn bits of dollar bills. Another couple will continue based on the same instructions, giving place to further experiences. Following John Dewey’s conception on continuity, each activity can leave “a trace” or a record in the individuals engaged, while modifying the environing conditions which become the occasions and the stimuli for further experiences : ”Continuity is not bare repetition of identities[…]Cultural conditions tend to multiply ties and to introduce new modes of trying experiences together[…] ” [2]